# What constitutes a "Year's supply" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862 "2005-04-05T16:50:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/1 "2005-04-05T16:50:31Z")
If in a competition you were to win a year’s supply of a product how much do you get? In some cases it would be fairly obvious, for example if you won a years supply of dog food you would get the recommended amount for one dog for one year (say 2 tins a day or whatever). However, in other cases it isn’t so clear cut, I recently saw on an advert on T.V. that you could win a “Year of free taxis”, does this mean if you win you would be entitled to unlimited free taxi journeys? In another competition I saw the prize listed as a “Year’s supply of Mars bars”, which for me would be about 3 because I don’t have a sweet tooth but could the winner legally claim around 50 Mars bars a day as long as they didn’t resell them? ---
**Author:** ![dasgupta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@dasgupta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasgupta)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/2 "2005-04-05T17:05:58Z")
Antecdotal evidence, as I’m sure it depends on the contest: One day my friend passed out coupons to a group of us, and we all went to the local 7-Eleven for a bag of free M&Ms each. His grandmother had won a contest and gotten a year’s supply of M&Ms - 365 coupons each good for one free bag. Sadly, we didn’t put them through M&M gladiator battles. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/3 "2005-04-05T17:10:30Z")
The taxi prize would be almost certainly be an account that you can use for a year. You just call up the specific taxi company and give the account number and they bill whomever ran the comp. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/4 "2005-04-05T17:11:52Z")
> [@dasgupta](#): > > Sadly, we didn’t put them through M&M gladiator battles. I just searched on this. I may start doing this and sending the winners back to Mars. ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/5 "2005-04-05T17:35:31Z")
If it’s Turtle Wax, a “year’s supply” is about 1/10 of a can. Everyone knows that stuff lasts for decades. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TJVM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@TJVM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJVM)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/6 "2005-04-05T17:56:04Z")
I suspect that if you read the fine print in the contest offer (usually on the coupon, or product package, or whatever) it will specify what they mean for that particular contest. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/7 "2005-04-05T18:05:29Z")
If you read the fine print, most contests specify exactly how much a “year’s supply” is. It is not all you can consume/use in a year: > [@](#): > > [Register now to win a FREE year’s supply of delicious Melitta Coffee.](https://www.melitta.com/ptw.html) > > Each winner will receive free Melitta coffee for one year. Amount of coffee’s Approx. Retail Value = $200.00. (Prize amount and value is based on estimated average use of one person’s coffee consumption for one year.) ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/8 "2005-04-05T20:00:11Z")
I’m no expert in this, but I’ve always assumed the prize was capped at a certain monetary value of the product. The value being determined by average use of consumers for any given item. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/9 "2005-04-05T20:57:34Z")
When I was a child, I won a year’s supply of Eskimo Pies (the second prize in an essay-writing contest run by the “Howdy Doody” television show). This turned out to be 365 Eskimo Pies. They all arrived at once in a big box, packed in dry ice, in the middle of August, when it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside. I was very, very popular in the neighborhood that day. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/10 "2005-04-06T09:40:22Z")
I worked as a cashier at a grocery store in high school. One of our regular customers won a year’s supply of her kids’ favorite cereal - which consisted of 52 coupons for a free family-sized box of that cereal, each valid for its own one-week period during that year. Funny thing, by the end of the year it wasn’t her kids’ favorite cereal any more 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/11 "2005-04-06T13:52:14Z")
Year’s supply of anchovy-stuffed martini olives = Three 5-oz. jars Year’s supply of dry vermouth = Two liter bottles Year’s supply of gin = Thirty-six magnums ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/12 "2005-04-06T17:06:10Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > Year’s supply of anchovy-stuffed martini olives = Three 5-oz. jars > > Year’s supply of dry vermouth = Two liter bottles > > Year’s supply of gin = Thirty-six magnums I like the way you think. Where can I enter _that_ contest? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/13 "2005-04-06T20:57:43Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > I just searched on this. I may start doing this and sending the winners back to Mars. Heh. Too funny. [http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-128700.html](http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-128700.html) ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/14 "2005-04-06T22:57:18Z")
My friend won a year’s supply of Happy Meals as a kid (boy was I jelouse) and she got a book of 56 coupons. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/15 "2005-04-06T23:10:15Z")
> [@even sven](#): > > My friend won a year’s supply of Happy Meals as a kid (boy was I jelouse) and she got a book of 56 coupons. Which four weeks of the year was she allowed to double up? ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-constitutes-a-years-supply/297862/16 "2005-04-06T23:12:45Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > Year’s supply of anchovy-stuffed martini olives = Three 5-oz. jars > > Year’s supply of dry vermouth = Two liter bottles > > Year’s supply of gin = Thirty-six magnums Wow, you’ve got my 365 Eskimo Pies beat. Wanna trade?